Innovation Diffusion Basics

To successfully bring an innovation to market, it is important to understand the basics of how new ideas are adopted. Implementation science, dissemination research, and diffusion of innovations all describe the study of how new ideas are integrated into practice. The adoption process includes five stages: knowledge, persuasion/intention, decision, implementation/action, and confirmation/validation. Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards make up the five customer segments, each with varying degrees of risk tolerance and opinion leadership. Understanding these stages and segments can help innovators determine how to bring their ideas to market and ensure successful adoption.